NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -

Thursday was a rough day on the stock exchange for one of Middle Tennessee's biggest companies. 

Private contractor Corrections Corporation of America took a 35 percent hit on shares after the Department of Justice said it's through with private prisons.

Another private prison, Geo Group, tumbled $13.80, or 42.7 percent, to $18.49.

Both companies get about half their revenue from the federal government.

An 80-page report by the Office of the Inspector General says there is overwhelming evidence that private facilities have more safety and security problems.

The DOJ says because of this, it is asking the Bureau of Prisons not to renew contracts with private prison operators like CCA.

The decision prompted about a dozen people to dance in celebration outside its headquarters Thursday night.

“It’s a good sign someone has finally paid attention to literally decades of research that have shown problems, significant problems at for profit prisons,” said Alex Friedmann, managing editor of Prison Legal News.

Friedmann knows about the issues firsthand.

“I spent six years in a private prison prior to my release in 1999,” Friedmann said.

Friedmann served a total of 10 years in prison for armed robbery, assault with attempt to commit murder and attempted aggravated robbery.

Friedmann started writing about prison issues while he was still behind bars. Now he's the managing editor of Prison Legal news, a monthly magazine dedicated to criminal justice issues.

“There is more violence in private prisons. There are higher recidivism rates. When people are released from private prisons they are more likely to go back to prison, so these are issues that directly affect the public,” Friedmann said.

Friedmann said the sole function for private prisons is to make money.

“When you interject for profit motivation into the criminal justice system, you're essentially saying crime does pay and yes justice is for sale,” Friedmann said.

Corrections Corporation of America doesn't agree with the report. Spokesperson Jonathan Burns sent us this statement:

We value our partners, and we will continue to work with them, both through the types of management solutions we've provided for more than three decades, as well as new, innovative opportunities we've been exploring in recent years in a proactive effort to meet their evolving needs. For example, our real estate-only solution helps government deliver needed facility space in a cost-effective manner while providing its own staffing and management services. We've also greatly expanded our residential re-entry offerings, which help inmates prepare to successfully return to their communities. In fact, this spring we won a re-bid of a Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) contract for these critical services. It's important to note that today's announcement relates only to BOP correctional facilities, which make up seven percent of our business.

The Inspector General's report used to buttress this decision has significant flaws. The report's authors freely admit that they "were unable to evaluate all of the factors that contributed to the underlying data," and they failed to account for the impact of elements such as population demographics or the scope and efficacy of efforts to mitigate contraband. The findings simply don't match up to the numerous independent studies that show our facilities to be equal or better with regard to safety and quality, or the excellent feedback we get from our partners at all levels of government.

Today's announcement pertains to 3 CCA facilities, none of which are in Tennessee.

The federal prison population — now at 193,299 — has been dropping due to changes in federal sentencing policies over the past three years. Private prisons hold about 22,100 of these inmates, or 12 percent of the total population, the Justice Department said.